Hagen



No. 624,771. Patented May 9, I899. G. EIGKHOFF &. P. E. JUHL.

MACHINE FOB PRINTING CYLINDRIGAL OBJECTS.

(Application filed Jan. 2 1, 1897.) (N0 Medal.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

No. 624,77l. Patented May 9, I899.

G. EIGKHOFF & P. E. T. JUHLI MACHINE FDR PRINTING CYLINDBICAL OBJECTS.

(Application filed. Jan. 21, 1897.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(-No lJIodel.)

m. 624,77! Patented May 9, I899.

a. EICKHOFF & P. E. T. JUHL. MACHINE FUR PRINTING CYLINDRIGAL OBJECTS.

(Application filed Jan. 21, 1897.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheefs-Sheet 3.

THE Nnmus PETERS co, F'HOTGLITrKL, WAsmNuToN. o. c.

o 9 B, 0W V. a M M S m T 6 H a J P.B 0 H M w 8 .TD N U M G mm Fm. 0| HR P man 0 F GE m H G A M H 4 2 '6 m N (Application filed Jan; 21, 1897.)

4 Shear-Shoat 4.

(No Model.)

NITEDF STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

GOTTFRIED EICKHOFF AND PETER ERNST THEODOR- JUHL, OF COPEN I-IAGEN, DENMARK.

MACHINE FOR PRINTING 'CYLINDRICAL OBJECTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent-No. 624,771, dated May 9, 1899.

Application filed January 21, 1397. Serial No. 620,036. (No'model-l 7 ings, and to letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention has relation to printing-machines, and more particularly to machines for printing upon, cylindrical or approximately cylindrical bodies, such as tin cans containing alimentary and other substances, any desired subjectmatter or different subjectsmatter in one and the same color or in differ-. ent colors, or for applying to such cylindrical bodies one or more coats of varnish or the like.

The invention has for its object the provision of mechanism'or mechanisms by means of which the cylindrical body which is to receive the impression or impressions is maintained during theoperation of printing in proper position to receive such impression or impressions and is at the same time revolved with the printing-cylinders in one and the same direction and at the same surface speed.

The invention has for its further object an arrangement of cylinder or cylinders whereby a plurality of cylindrical bodies may be printed upon at one and the same time, means being also provided for feeding the cylindrical bodies to the printing appliances and dis.- charging said bodies from the machine after having been printed upon.

That our invention may be fully understood, we will describe the same in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a sectional plan, (the upper printing-cylinder removed) and Fig. 3 a sectional end view, (the lower left-hand printing-cylinder removed,) of a machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view illustrating rolling bearings adapted to be substituted for the upper printing-cylinder. Fig.

, 5 is a fragmentarysectional view of Fig. 1,

illustrating the feed-bar in its uppermost position about to deposit a tin on the lower printing-cylinders and atthe limit of its traversing motion toward the left; and Fig. 6 is alike I view illustrating saidfeed-bar in its lowerings for a main shaft 8, which carries two cams c and c and a crank 0 the pin of which is connected bya rod' 1" with a toothed sectorleVer S adapted to oscillate on a cross-brace f of the frame F near its opposite or left end. A rock-lever L, fulcrumed about midway of its length to the frame F atf carries at one end a roller Z in contact with and actuated by the cam 0, above referred to.

From the frame F project standards or arms f, one on each side thereof, to which is secured a cross brace orshaft s, that carries a loose sleeve a, having a radial arm A, which carries at its free end a roller a in contact with and actuated by the aforementioned The sleeve a also has two arms A, the forward or left end of which is bifurcated it cam c".

or branched. One of said branches a" is angular and its horizontal arm is enlarged and has formed therein a segmental slot a a bearing being provided at the angle of thehori zontal and upwardly and forwardly inclined parts of the branches 0. of said'arms A for a cross-shaft 8 To the opposite ends of shaft 8 are pivoted links L which by means of set 1 bolts or screws Z working in the aforesaid segmental slots, are adjustable toward and from the main f rame or lower printing-cylinders to adapt the machine to print upon tins of dif ferent diameter, the slots at being arcs of circles having the axis'of shaft 5' for center.

In the outer ends of the links L are formed bearings for the journals or shafts s of th The branch (1 of arms A extends forward and downward, terminatingin a foot portion a to which is secured an arm a, that has at its upper end an inwardlyprojecting V- shaped lip a, that projects into a longitudinal guide-groove b in the feed-bar B. The proximate faces of the arms a and the branch a of arm A converge to form a V-shaped recess or bearing for and in which said feedbar has a traversing motion, as more clearly shown in Fig. 7.

The frame F near its forward orleft end is provided with bearings for the journals or shafts S S of the'lowerprinting-cylinders O and 0 arranged on opposite sides of a line intersecting the axis of rotation of. the upper printing-cylinder C, and between said cylinders O O? is located the feed-bar B, which not only has a traversing motion, as stated, but also a rising-and-falling motion, as hereinafter explained.

To one end of the shafts S S is secured a gear-wheel 7 and 8, respectively, both in gear with the toothed sector-lever S hereinbefore described, and on the opposite end of shaft S is securedagear-wheel 6, that meshes with a transmitting-wheel 5 on branch a of the arm A on that side of the machinei. 6., the delivery sidesaid wheel 5 communicating motion to a like wheel 4, revoluble on a stud -on said branch a of arm A, said wheel 4 communicating motion to a wheel 3, loose on shaft 8 which wheel 3 communicates motion to a gear on the shaft S of the upper printing-cylinder.

Each of the printing-cylinders is provided with an inking-in roll (indicated by the common symbol 9) and which may be arranged in any preferred or usual manner.

' The toothed sector-lever S? and the drivinggearing described are so organized as to impart to the printing-cylinders a complete revolu- 'tion at each oscillation of the said sector-lever and to revolve said cylinders at the same surface speed.

I struotion of the support facilitating the placing thereon of the tins in proper position, in that the operator has access thereto from practically all sides. The outer members of the supportD are provided with an inwardlyprojecting flange d, that serves as an abut= ment for the tins, and on the delivery side of the machine, (left hand, Fig. 3,) is arranged an inclined delivery-table K, having flanged guideways 7c, the latter being adjustable toward and from the former, so as to properly guide tins of different lengths along said table. a

At the receiving end of the deliverytable K is arranged a bracket H, to which is adjustably secured a stop h, which latter lies .in the plane of the tins on the feed-barB and acts as a knock-off to knock the tins after having been printed upon off the feed-bar onto the delivery-table K.

On the delivery side of the machine the feed-bar B is connected by a link Z with the vertical arm Z of a bell-crank lever L, the horizontal arm Z of which is weighted or carries a weight L The outer end of said horizontal arm Z of lever L is provided in its under face with a concave socket-bearin g, a similar bearing being formed in the end of lever L, hereinabove referred to, in which bearings is stepped a connecting-rod Z thus providing a universal joint between the two levers L and L.

Inpractice and to properly revolve the tins when the forms M on the printing-cylinders cover but a portion of their circumference each of said cylinders has on its end toward the feed side ofthe machine a peripheral flange a a ring 0 provided with a like flange and adjustable lengthwise of the cylinder, be-

ing provided to cooperate with saidend flange and form bearings for the tins to properly position the same relatively to the forms Mand at the same time cause them to revolve about their own axes with the printing-cylinders.

In some cases, especially when the body to be printed upon is not perfectly cylindrical, the bearing-flanges may be formed of'rings 0 Figs. 3 and 5, of a more or less elastic ma terial, as rubber, seated in grooves in the cylinders over the rings 0 The feed-bar B, as above stated is substantially V-shaped in cross-section-that is to say, it has converging sides'and is provided with a longitudinal groove 1) for the retaining and guiding lip on the outer half of the bearings for said bar on the branches a of arms A. tailed groove in which are fitted bearingblocks 22 adjustable lengthwise of the bar for supporting the tins T.

The operation of the machine is as follows: A tin .T having been placed upon the support D, so as to abut againstthe end flanges of its outer uprights, is now properly positioned for being printed upon by the aid of the index-finger I, hereinabove referred to, while the feed-bar is in its lowermost position and at the limit of its traversing motion toward the feed end of the machine. As the crank c revolves the arms A are lifted by the cam 0', thereby moving the upper printing-cylin- In its upper face the bar has adoveder 0 away from. the lower cylinders 0 0 while the feed-bar is likewiselifted by the branches a of said arms A, this taking place when the crank c is about to reach and while it passes a dead-point, consequently while the printing-cylinders O O are almost at rest. As the feed-bar B rises its bearings are brought under the opposite ends of the tin T on support D and lift said tin off, endwise motion of the tin on its bearingsb being prevented by the end flanges b thereon. At this moment the cam 0 acts upon the roller l on lever L, depressing its roller end and lifting its opposite end, thereby tilting the bell-crank lever L toward the left, Fig. 3,

' whereby a traversing motion in the same dipasses a dead-point.

rection is imparted to the feed-bar B, and the tin T thereon is carried between the cylinders O C and below cylinder 0 into position to be printed upon. The feed-bar B now descends, leaving the tin upon the bearings c c on cylinders (1 O and simultaneously therewith the upper cylinder 0 likewise descends, with its corresponding bearings c 0 moving into contact with thesaid tin. During these operations the cam c has rotated sufficiently to cause the feed-bar B, after having reached its lowermost position, to be traversed back toward the feed end of the machine under the weight L of bell-crank lever L, ready to again rise and take a second tin from support D. During the described movements the cylinders C (3 revolve in the same direction as the main shaft 8, the sector-lever S having now reached the limit of its motion toward the right. Fig. 1 is now moved toward the left to revolve the printingcylinders O C C in a reverse direction, and through said cylinders the tin T between them is revolved and printed upon. Duringthe last-described operation the feed-bar B is again raised, and as the sector-lever S reaches the limit of its movement toward the left the crank 0 again The feed-bar takes a second tin T from support D and is traversed toward the delivery end of the machine to carry said second tin T into proper position, between the printing-cylinders. As the feedbar B rises to take said second tin from support D it also takes the tin previously printed upon off the lower printing-cylinders, and as said feed-bar is traversed toward the delivery side of the machine the tin T is carriedinto position to be printed upon and the tin T strikes the abutment or stop hon bracketarm H, and is thereby knocked off onto the delivery-table K, down which it rolls, the described operation being then repeated, and so on.

In a machine such as described three inde pendent impressions can be made upon each tin and of course in the same or in different colors. If, however, the subject-matter to be printed upon the tins is such as to require only one or two cylinders, the other cylinder or cylinders are removed and their shafts provided with discoidal bearings'E, adjustable lengthwise of said shaftsby means of setscrews 6, Fig. 4:. On the otherhand, the machine may readily be adapted to the printing upon two or more tins simultaneously, either by three or five cylinders, as shown in Fig. 6, in which the upper short cylinder G is replaced by a longer cylinder O having two forms M, and instead of two lower cylinders we employ four, of which two only are shown in Fig. 6namely, the cylinder Canda companion cylinder (3: on the same shaft S. Inasmuch as the cylinders are removably secured to their shafts in. any well-known manner the changes referred to can be readily effected or discoidal bearings E substituted for one or more of the printing-cylinders, as will be readily understood.

When very small cylindrical bodies are to be printed upon, the bearings 19 on the feedbar B may be dispensed with.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies comprising a printing surface orform moving alternatelyin opposite directions, two

sets of bearings movingcorrespondingly to revolve a cylindrical body placed between said elements, and mechanism for periodicallymoving one of said elements from the others and back again to admit of the placing of a cylindrical body between them and its removal after being printed upon, for the purpose set'forth.

2. A machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, comprising a printing surface or form, moving alternately in opposite directions, two sets of bearings moving correspondingly to revolve a cylindrical body placed between said elements, mechanism for periodically bearings moving correspondingly to revolve a cylindrical body when placed between said elements, and mechanism for periodically moving one of the elements toward and from theothers; in combination with a feed-bar constructed to support cylindrical bodies, and mechanism organized to impart to said feedbar alternating horizontal and vertical reciprocating movements between two of the aforesaid elements, the horizontal and vertical movements of the bar in one direction being timed to take place when one of the aforesaid elements is moving from the others, for the purpose set forth.

4. A machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, comprising a printing surface or form moving alternatelyin opposite directions, one or more similar surfaces moving correspondingly to revolve a cylindrical body when placed between them, and mechanism for pcriodically moving one ofsaid printing-surfaces from the other or others and back again to admit of the placing of a cylindrical body between them and its removal after being printed upon, for the purpose set forth.

5. A machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, comprising a printing-surface or set of such moving alternately in opposite directions, a second printing-surface or set of such moving correspondingly to revolve a cylindrical body or bodies when placed between them, and mechanism for periodically mov-j ing one of the printing-surfaces or a set of such from the other or others and back again in combination with a feeding device for feed ing cylindrical bodies between the printing surfaces when one or a set of them is moved from the other, for the purpose set forth.

6. In a machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, the combination with a revoluble printing-cylinder provided with a circular bearing on each side of its form, and two or more sets of like revoluble bearings cooperating with'those on the cylinder to revolve a cylindrical bodyin a position to be acted upon by said form, and mechanism adapted to antomatically and periodically move one or more of the aforesaid sets of circular bearings to-.

ward or from the printing-cylinder, for the purpose set forth.

7. In a machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, the combination with a revoluble printing-cylinder provided with a circular bearing on each side of its form, two or more sets of like revoluble bearings cooperating with those on the cylinder to revolve a cylindrical body in a position to be acted upon by said form, and mechanism adapted to automatically and periodically move one or more of the aforesaid sets of circular bearings to: ward and from the printing-cylinder; of a feeding device operating automatically to feed a cylindrical body to the printing appliances whenever one or more of the sets of circular bearings have moved from the printing-cylinder, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, the combination with a plurality of revoluble printing-cylinders, each provided with a circular bearing on opposite sides of its form, and a set of revoluble circular bearings cooperating with those on the printingcylinders to revolve a cylindrical bodyin position to be acted upon by the forms on said cylinders; of mechanism adapted to automatically and periodicallymove said set of circular bearings toward and from the printingcylinders, for the purpose set forth.

9. In a machine for printing upon cylindrical bodies, the combination with a plurality of revoluble printing-cylinders-,each provided with a circular bearing on opposite sides of its form, a set of revoluble circular bearings cooperating with the like bearings on the printing-cylinders to revolve a cylindrical body in position to be acted upon by the forms on said cylinders, and mechanism adapted to automatically and periodically move said-set of circular bearings toward and from the print= ing-cylinders; of a feeding device operating I automatically to feed a cylindrical body to the printing appliances whenever said set of circular bearings has moved away from the cylinders, for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination with the printing-cylinders O and 0 a feed-bar located between them, the shaft S, and mechanism adapted to periodically and simultaneously lift the said feed-bar and shaft; of mechanism organized to impart to the feed-bar a traversing motion in one direction when so lifted, and a like motion in a reverse direction when again lowered, for the purpose set forth.

11. The combination of the lifter-arms A having a bran ch a a guide and retaining-arm secured to said branch and provided at its upper end with an inwardly projecting lip, the proximate faces of said retaining-arm and branch of lifter-arm converging to form between them a bearing V-shaped in cross-section, with the feed-bar B having converging sides to fit said bearing, and a longitudinal groove for the reception of the lip on the retaining-arm, for the purpose set forth.

12. In a machine such as described, a feedbar having converging sides, a longitudinal groove in one of said sides and a like dovetailed groove in its upper face; in combination with bearing-blocks fitting said 1 dovetailed grooves, and having concave bearingfaces terminating in upward'ly-proj ectin g end flanges, for the purpose set forth.

13. In a machine such as described, the

combination with the feed-bar l3, theshaft s and the cam c thereon and the lever L actuated by said cam; of the weighted bell-crank lever L and connections connecting the vertical and horizontal arms thereof respectively with one end of the feed-bar and with one end of said lever L, for the purpose set forth.

14. The combination with the feed-bar B and the bell-crank lever L having'its shorter arm'weighted and its longer arm connected with the feed-bar by a link F; of the lever L, a universal-joint connection between one end of said lever and the weighted arm of hell: crank lever L, and means for periodically rocking said lever, for the purpose set forth.

15. The combination with the feed-bar B and the bell-crank lever L having its shorter IIO arm weighted and its longer arm connected In testimony that we claim the foregoing as with the feed-bar by a link 1 said shorter our invention we have signed our names in 10 arm having aconcave bearing in its under presence of two subscribing witnesses.

face; of the lever L having a corresponding GOTTFR. EICKl-IOFF. bearing at one end in its upper face, the con- PETER ERNST THEODOR JUHL. necting-rod i loosely stepped in said bearings, Witnesses:

and means for periodically rocking said lever ALEXIS K6HL,

L, for the purpose set forth. KNUD HOLTERY. 

